


Living A Dream

by kopycat_101



Series: Nathmarc November [9]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Bisexual Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Boys In Love, Cute, Cute Ending, Cute Kids, Dorks, Dorks in Love, Established Relationship, Gay Marc Anciel, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Slash, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:01:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27472432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kopycat_101/pseuds/kopycat_101
Summary: Nathaniel and Marc wait with anticipation for the launch of their comic book's pre-orders, huddled together on Nathaniel's couch.The numbers they see on the webpage take them by surprise.
Relationships: Alix Kubdel & Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Marc Anciel & Alix Kubdel & Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Marc Anciel/Nathaniel Kurtzberg
Series: Nathmarc November [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1994782
Comments: 12
Kudos: 42





	Living A Dream

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CawCawItsCrow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CawCawItsCrow/gifts).



> For Nathmarc November Day 9: Publish.
> 
> This fic is a gift to Soda! Because it's their birthday soon, and I don't really have time to write them something specifically. Hope you enjoy the early b-day present!
> 
> Also, I did a lot of research into the French comic book industry for this, haha. You can look at the end note for more information about that in particular.

* * *

Marc and Nathaniel huddle together on Nathaniel’s couch, sharing Marc’s laptop between them, cuddling as they watch the webpage in front of them with hawk-like attention.

The duo are waiting for the official launch of the first issue of their comic book, see how many people pre-order it. After the official launch date, two weeks will pass until the comics hit comic shops around Paris and the rest of France, printed and ready for physical purchase in shops.

But that comes later. For now, their first hurdle is seeing if anyone actually pre-orders their product. While not concrete proof of how successful their work will be, pre-order numbers are a good estimate.

If they do well, their publishing company will extend their contract. Do poorly, and they only get to publish two or three issues, done after they’ve barely started.

It’s nearly midnight. They don’t have school tomorrow, because the pre-order day was set for Saturday. The choice was both a marketing tactic, and a day to give them time to watch the progress themselves despite being schoolboys and stuck to a typical school schedule.

The timer ticks down, and the clock changes to midnight. Marc quickly clicks to refresh the page, seeing that the timer is at 0:00 with the words “Pre-Orders Open!” in bold letters at the top.

And now, they wait.

“’M glad we decided on a sleepover,” Nathaniel mutters, burrowing his face into Marc’s shoulder.

“Y-Yeah, same. I don’t think I could stand the nerves, if I was waiting this out by myself,” Marc admits, wrapping his arm tighter around his boyfriend’s waist.

Marc’s fingers itch to refresh the page again, but it’s barely been a minute.

“I’m glad I can do this with you, Marc…” the redhead says, squeezing Marc back. “No matter the outcome.”

“Me too,” Marc agrees, feeling his eyes burn and his chest fill with fondness.

It took them a lot to get where they are. As partners, friends, a romantic couple. As content creators. As people who were strong and confident enough to try to reach their dreams, even with the heavy threat of failure looming over them.

They’ve been promoting the hell out of their comic. Nathaniel’s been doing commissions and posting things on his art blog to his followers, Marc’s been doing similarly for his fanfiction platform. They’ve posted teasers on their twitters. Even them showing up in the background of selfies, their friends taking pictures of them working on their comic while the boys scrambled to shield their work from view, has generated a lot of interest from their famous classmates’ followers.

Hell, the redhead once drew a sketch of Chat Noir for Adrien, and the boy was so ecstatic he took a selfie with both the drawing and Nathaniel, posting it on his official Instagram. That alone led to a spike in Nathaniel’s followers.

Not to mention the popularity and high regard the Parisian public held for Ladybug and Chat Noir, of which the comic had as the main heroes and leads. Even if people weren’t fans of comics in particular, they might just buy their product by the fact that it’s Ladybug and Chat Noir related.

The comic creators distract one another as best they can with little anecdotes about their classmates’ social media, trying to ignore the need to refresh the page every other second.

After about ten minutes, Nathaniel finally sighs loudly.

“Okay. I know it’s unrealistic but…I kinda _really_ want to check the page again.”

Marc lets out a giggle, amused, voice sympathetic as he admits, “Yeah, me too. You ready…?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” the redhead jokes, looking into his boyfriend’s pretty emerald eyes, before they move back to the screen.

The two hold their breath as Marc refreshes the page.

They look at the count of pre-orders under the banner and timer, and they both gasp loudly, leaning forwards and clutching at one another’s arms.

“Holy _shit_ ,” Nathaniel breathes, staring in awe at the number.

Over five hundred orders. Five hundred in just _ten minutes_ into their launch day.

Marc just manages to set the laptop down on the coffee table before Nathaniel is all but tackling him in a hug.

The two boyfriends begin to laugh, and sob, holding each other and bouncing in place, overwhelmed with emotion. Joy, disbelief, pride.

“W-We did it!” Nathaniel hollers through his loud sobbing. “Maaarc!”

“W-We—we did!” Marc hiccups back, burying his face in Nathaniel’s hair.

The two don’t stop holding each other until sleep finally overcomes them at three in the morning, after various excited discussions and live tweeting.

* * *

They’re scheduled to meet with their publishing agent Monday after school.

The boys are both full of nerves and hope. Their pre-order numbers have been ticking up at an insane pace. The last time they checked was during lunch time, and they were at a dizzying number.

Thirty thousand and counting.

It was… _insane_. Like they were living a literal dream.

“Pinch me. This—this can’t be real,” Nathaniel mutters, staring down at his phone.

Next to him, without hesitation, Alix reaches out and pinches his thigh.

“Ow! Fuck!” Nathaniel stutters out, turning to glare at his best friend, who was smiling smugly back at him. Marc giggles from his other side.

“What? You asked,” she drawls.

“Didn’t mean it literally…” the redhead mutters, rubbing at his thigh, cheeks warm.

“You guys deserve it, anyways. All the orders and stuff,” the skater states, leaning back with her arms crossed. “You both worked hard to get here.”

“Y-You think…?” Marc asks shyly, smiling sweetly over at Alix.

“Think? I know it,” Alix retorts, a wide grin on her face.

Nathaniel finds himself smiling, heart warm and full at his best friend’s easy confidence, her support.

“Thanks, Al.”

“Eh, don’t thank me. Thank your fans,” she shrugs with a wink. Marc lets out a laugh, and Nathaniel is quick to follow.

* * *

Marc and Nathaniel stare back at their publishing agent with wide eyes.

“O-Our first issue is g-gonna be printed… _How_ many copies…?” the redhead asks weakly.

“Well, with the numbers we estimate from your pre-orders…We’re starting off with sixty thousand copies,” their agent—Ms. Verity—replies again, slowly. A bright grin appears on her lips, as she excitedly goes on with, “But if it keeps selling this quickly, we might need to print more. The numbers could be up an even hundred-thousand, maybe even higher, if the pre-orders keep coming in.”

Besides him, Marc wheezes, clutching at Nathaniel’s arm in a vice-like grip.

“S-So this is wh-what it—what it feels like,” Marc says weakly, looking a hair’s breath away from bursting into happy tears. “T-To sell something that’s the n-ninth form of art…”

Ms. Verity’s smile widens until she’s beaming with pride, teeth gleaming white against her dark skin, her hands clasped together against her chest.

“Congratulations, boys!” she chirps, with a little laugh. “You’ve made it…!”

The boys can’t help it. They grab at each other’s arms and start screaming and cheering, tears streaming down their faces.

They’ve done it. They’ve made it.

They were living their dreams, having their work being published, having people _love_ their work. This is more than either one expected in their lifetimes, much less happening so young to them, still just teenagers.

“We’ve done it,” Nathaniel whispers, as he holds Marc, unheeding of showing affection in front of their agent, too elated to care.

The writer sniffles, “Y-Yeah. We—we’ve d-done it.”

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Bande dessinée, a term used for comic books, is considered an art form. It’s called the 9th art in French speaking countries.  
> Comic books are considered a very cheap and affordable way to buy art in Europe.  
> On average, lesser-known titles and artists can sell about 50 thousand copies. One of the more famous comics, Asterix, sold 5 million copies in 2017.
> 
> Despite the industry itself being much smaller for French-Belgium comics versus the American industry, with fewer artists and publications and famous works, the comics industry still goes strong. Because there aren't as many products out for purchase, the ones in circulation get a lot of attention.
> 
> Also, the way these comics are sold is slightly different as well. No chapters are released on their own, for magazines or promotional materials. They are only sold as comic issues.  
> Sometimes the issues are larger because the publishing company waits to put them together in book format.


End file.
